Rumors of an elusive Ford Bronco Raptor have been circling the web for some time now, gaining even more momentum earlier this month when the carmaker secured the moniker ‘Warthog’ via the U.S. Patent and Trademark office. Now, we still can’t say for certain that the flagship Bronco will be called Warthog or Raptor, but the final designation should be one of the two.
What happened next was pretty unexpected.
Ford actually tweeted out an image of an airborne Bronco, featuring seemingly
beefier undercarriage components. When asked whether that’s supposed to be the
Raptor version, the person in charge of Ford’s twitter account replied: “Maybe
;)”.
So yes, it’s safe to say we can expect a
more hardcore version of the all-new Ford Bronco, and you can see it here in
prototype form undergoing testing. The Warthog / Raptor variant of the Bronco
appears to be running the same wheel and tire size (35″) as the Sasquatch Pack
model: LT315/70R17 with BF Goodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires.
Even more interesting however are the Fox
3.0 Internal Bypass shocks with Live Valve technology, just like on the 2019
F-150 Raptor. They can be identified thanks to their metallic orange finish,
and can be seen underneath this prototype. While we’re just speculating, we
suspect that Ford will use this suspension configuration for both the front and
the rear end of the Bronco Worthog / Raptor.
According to MotorTrend, this wild Bronco
could be powered by a twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 engine with at least 350 HP, if not
more. The current range-topper is a 310 HP twin-turbo 2.7-liter V6. If we had
to guess though, we reckon a 3.0-liter V6 EcoBoost unit (the one in the
Explorer ST) with 400 HP makes a great deal more sense, since it would provide
a sizable increase over the 2.7-liter V6 unit, instead of a marginal one.
As for a reveal date, it could happen
later this year, although sales will likely commence sometime in 2021.
